Automotive Archive

Lexus Owner Sues for Shattered Sunroof

November 8th, 2016. By LucyC

Own a Lexus? How’s the sunroof? Still there—intact? Maybe not for much longer…The luxury car maker got hit with a defective products lawsuit in October, over allegations its sunroofs spontaneously explode. That could certainly put a little excitement into your life.  Several scenarios come to mind—none of them good.

According to Ginger Minoletti, who filed the Lexus sunroof lawsuit, she was traveling in her Lexus RX 350 on a California highway when the sunroof glass started making a loud noise. Minoletti says it sounded like the glass was cracking. Later on, she said she found pieces of glass inside the shade of the sunroof. Lucky that was all.

Apparently, there’s some defect that causes the glass to just shatter. You don’t even need to hit it with anything first—no prompting required. If you were a superstitious person, and even if you’re not, this could be quite disturbing.

According to the lawsuit, the sudden and obviously unexpected nature of these explosions leave drivers bewildered and trying to come up with an explanation for their no doubt shocked passengers, who may well be covered in glass shards.

The website carcomplaints.com, cites reports by Lexus owners, one made by an owner of a 2007 Lexus RX 350 in Austin, TX: “Travel back from New Orleans to Austin Texas on I-10 out in the middle of nowhere traveling 70mph and the sunroof on my Lexus RX-350 exploded into a shattering disaster. If shade had been opened it could have been detrimental bodily injury to myself or my passenger.”

And another by an owner of a 2013 Lexus GS 350 in Houston, TX: “2 month old car, was driving to work on a highway. Sunroof exploded and also got thousands of scratches from the shattered glass. I don’t understand why it’s not covered by manufacturer – anyway it’s not possible to prove anything to them.”

And another by an owner of a 2011 Lexus CT 200h in Washington, DC ….”I was driving back from Boston to DC. Just north of Newark Airport, while driving at highway speeds (60mph) there was a very loud explosive noise. Then I noticed a lot of wind noise in the car. I pulled off at the next rest stop and discovered that my sunroof was shattered. I had to make three trips to the dealership to find out what was going on. It took them 7 days to finally tell me that they would not cover the damage.”

Ah, there’s another problem. Who pays for the sunroof? Not Lexus, apparently. Minoletti claims that’s what happened to her. She got stuck paying for all the repairs to the sunroof because Lexus said the work wasn’t covered under warranty.

The kicker, according to the lawsuit, is that Lexus and its parent company Toyota have been aware of this issue since 2012, but, predictably, have done nothing to warn consumers.

Although the proposed class action lawsuit currently concerns California Lexus owners only, owners across the country have complained about having no warning the glass was getting ready to disintegrate.

The Lexus exploding sunroof lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles – Ginger Minoletti v. Toyota Motors Sales USA Inc.

Posted in Automotive, Class Action | 39 Comments »

Flashback Friday! Volkswagen Ads post-Volkswagen Lawsuits?

September 25th, 2015. By AbiK

Yes, it’s time for a flashback Friday! Remember all those great Volkswagen ads of years gone by? Simple. Witty. Dare I say…trustworthy. Best of all, they poked humor at themselves. They totally got how folks were like “wtf??” when they saw a car that resembled something you’d step on in a heartbeat. And they ran with it. Yesiree…totally ran—straight to the bank. And flower children everywhere made the VW Bug the automotive emblem of their age. Complete love-fest.

But that was then. Fast-forward to September 18, 2015 when news broke about something called a “defeat device“. It sounded like something you’d grab in Minecraft to kill the Ender Dragon—but alas, it turned out to be much more sinister. As we all now know, it’s what VW installed in its diesel autos to suppress emissions so that the cars would pass emissions testing on a dynamometer—aka a stationary “rolling road” used to test cars (and no, we didn’t know what that was either until a week ago). Those emissions, however, when on an actual road, were spewing upwards of 40x more toxic fumes than permitted. Uh-oh! Where’s the love now folks? To die-hard VW fans, it’s a jilt they’ll never get over.

And now there’s a stack of Volkswagen lawsuits piling up.

But it’s worth looking back…at some of those VW ads of yore, and imagining those same ads circa 2015. Yes, the ads on the right are totally fake–just to be clear. But it’s easy to see how they could well be art imitating life right now… so here goes…

Tags: Class Action Lawsuit, Volkswagen
Posted in Automotive, Class Action | No Comments »

Who’s gotten that Chrysler Dodge Ram Recall Notice?

April 15th, 2014. By AbiK

Did you ever receive one of these Chrysler Dodge Ram recalls for defective steering-system tie rods that may have been misaligned during assembly or steering-system service? Did you bring your truck in to have the part replaced? What’s your experience?

 

Tags: Chrysler Dodge Ram, Chrysler Recall, Dodge Ram Recall
Posted in Automotive, Complaints/Comments, Consumer Fraud, Emerging Issues | 1 Comment »

Best Lawyer Lead Gen Yet: Advertise Next to your Mugshot!

March 22nd, 2013. By AbiK

Why try to brush that bad rap under the carpet when you can capitalize on it—by serving ads for your law firm up to it!

Well, it probably wasn’t the intent of Florida attorney Thomas Lewis Edwards. Heck, he had nothing to do with it really—just a matter of whatever ad company he’s using serving up ads based on web searches for his name.

See, Edwards had the misfortune of being criminally charged with drunk driving and allegedly involved in a hit-and-run accident. Not usually good PR for an attorney. (Note: Edwards is criminal defense attorney.) And, after he posed for the in-house photographer—styled in emerald green stripes (a look that not everyone can pull off, mind you), his mugshot made it online.

From there, thanks to the logic built into the ad server, voila—the ad for his law firm appeared right next to his mugshot. Needless to say, once picked up by Gawker, Reddit and ABA Journal, it went viral. Talk about an endorsement!

The one who’s not mentioned in this but who sort of reaps some collateral damage out of it is Edwards’ partner, Geoffrey Mason. Guessing there were a couple of awkward moments and closed-door sessions at the firm once the screenshot went viral.

According to the Gainesville Sun, upon being asked about the irony of the situation, Mason took in stride and replied, “It is what it is.”

Yeah, it is.

Tags: Car Accident, Criminal Defense, Drunk Driving, DUI, DWI, Lawyer Lawsuit, Thomas Lewis Edwards
Posted in Automotive, Lawyers | No Comments »

Chevy HHR Complaints Still Coming In

September 10th, 2012. By AbiK

A while back we asked readers to submit videos of their Chevy HHR problems; specifically, we’d asked for videos where readers were telling us their HHR won’t shut off. A number of readers submitted videos, and we’ve had hundreds of HHR owner comments going off on HHR problems. While there hasn’t to date been an official  recall over at the NHTSA, some of our readers did report receiving a letter from GM stating that they could have their car fixed at no cost—however, it appears not everyone got that letter and the fix depended on what the HHR VIN number.

In the meantime, we’ve just received this comment from a woman whose HHR wouldn’t shut off when she pulled in to buy some gas—with an infant in the car, mind you—so she was forced to leave her car running while she fueled up. What was that about safety at the tank that we’re always told—? Something about NOT leaving the car running… Hmm, guess GM didn’t hear that one…

Just went to get gas and couldn’t get the key to move or engine to turn off – had to gas up with it running! As a woman alone with an infant in the car, Thank God for my smart phone and all you folks posting some “quick” fixes to put my mind at ease that I wasn’t the only one!
When I got to my inlaws, I was able to pull the fuse for the transmission/engine console and the engine cut off. Key is still stuck so had to pull fuse for lights and disconnect battery cable also. VERY INCONVENIENT!!
Not happy to hear this isn’t covered under warranties but I am going to try nonetheless. More pissed to be losing the time from work to fix something so ridiculous! I do not have time or patience for this. STEP UP, GM!

And just this morning we hear from a senior citizen who’s been put in a bind with Chevy HHR repairs. Read what she has to say:

I do not have a video but I have a 2006 Springtime Edition HHR and about 6 weeks ago the key stuck in the ignition and would not shut off all the power and ran down battery so had it towed to Chevrolet Dealer in Vicksburg, MI and it cost $420.

Now tomorrow I have to have it towed again because it would start and stop at stop light so took it to dealer and he put it on the computer and told me it was a short in the brain and estimate is $437.00 Could not decide to pay that much after having the earlier $420 so took it home and now it will not make it out of the driveway. Chevrolet should be ashamed of themselves for having a vehicle with problems like this, I only have 39,000 miles on it. I am a senior citizen with limited income and thought I bought a dependable vehicle but will never buy another Chevrolet. I intend to let Chevrolet know that I do not believe these problems are isolated but there are other people who bought HHR’s with problems much the same as mine and they should be responsible for the repairs.

Let us know if you’ve had Chevy HHR problems, and how you’ve fared with GM service (or not).

Tags: Chevy HHR, GM service, HHR Ignition, HHR Problems, NHTSA
Posted in Automotive, Complaints/Comments | 273 Comments »